Bio:
Clare Huntington joined the faculty of the University of Colorado Law School in 2004. Prior to joining the CU faculty, she was an attorney advisor in the Office of Legal Counsel in the U.S. Department of Justice for four years. Before working at the Justice Department, Professor Huntington served as a law clerk to Justices Harry A. Blackmun and Stephen Breyer, Supreme Court of the United States, to Judge Merrick B. Garland, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and to Judge Denise Cote, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Before attending law school, Professor Huntington worked in New York City as a case worker for a foster care agency and as an administrator for a youth services program. For seven years Professor Huntington served on the Board of Directors of the Women's Prison Association, a social services and advocacy organization in New York City. Professor Huntington also has worked for international development agencies in India and Senegal. Professor Huntington is the coordinator for the Juvenile and Family Law Program, launched in the fall of 2004. In 2005, Professor Huntington was honored with the Outstanding New Faculty Member award, and in 2006 and in 2007 she was honored with the Excellence in Teaching award.

For decades, legal scholars have debated the proper balance of parents' rights and children's rights in the child welfare system. This Article argues that the debate mistakenly privileges rights. Neither parents' rights nor children's rights serve families well because, as implemented, a solely rights-based model of child welfare does not protect the interests of parents or children. Additionally, even if well-implemented, the model still would not serve parents or children because it obscures the important role of poverty in child abuse and neglect and fosters conflict rather than collaboration between the state and families. In lieu of a solely rights-based model, this Article proposes a problem-solving model for child welfare and explores one embodiment of such a model, family group conferencing. A problem-solving model holds significant potential to address many of the profound theoretical and practical shortcomings of the current child welfare system